Press-on,turn-off closure



Feb. 1-0, 1970 P A VERCILLO 3,494,497

PRESS'ON, TURN-OFF CLOSURE Filed Dec. 23, 1968 INVENTOR PETER A. VERCILLO Q ATT'Ysf United States Patent 3,494,497 PRESS-ON, TURN-OFF CLOSURE Peter A. Vercillo, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Continental Can Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 23, 1968, Ser. No. 786,219 Int. Cl. B65d 41 /06 US. Cl. 215-44 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A closure for a container having a top seal finish and a side finish having thread means or closure locking means thereon in which the closure includes an outer shell having a top panel portion, an outer margin portion, a gasket disposed at least partially within said margin portion on an interior surface thereof, and a skirt depending from said outer margin, and including a plurality of fastening elements disposed about the bottom thereof. The fasteners include inwardly extending fingers, spring biased inwardly but resiliently movable outwardly. The resulting closure may be pressed, without intentional rotation, over the finish portion of a container, and will lock in place thereover as the fastening elements deflect outwardly when passing over the threads and thereafter engage the threads to hold the closure in position, while the gasket portion engages at least the top finish of the container in a sealing relation. Subsequent rotation will then unscrew the cap in a conventional manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Closures having sealing gaskets therein for engagement with at least the top finish portion of a jar or like container are well known in the art, such closures commonly being rotated into a locked position by means of threads formed on the skirt portion thereof. In this construction, the engagement of the closure threads with corresponding threads on the side finish of a container compresses a resilient gasket located in the outer margin portion of the top panel of the closure between the closure and the top finish of the container.

Relatively recently, closures have also come into use in which the shell portion included a downwardly extending skirt, but in which the skirt itself did not contain threads. In these closures, the skirt included a plastisol or like gasket, or liner material of a slightly reduced diameter relative to the outermost portions of the threads disposed on the side finish of the container. These closures are secured to the container by pressing them axially over the top of the container without intentional rotation. Upon engagement of the gasket or liner on the interior of the skirt with the threads, subsequent cold flow of the plastisol or like gasket material results in threads being formed on the inside of the skirt to mate with the threads on the container side finish. In such a cap, removal is accomplished by twisting motion, whereas installation was simply by a press on or substantially purely axial motion.

Accordingly, a closure which operates on the so-called press-on, twist-off principle is desirable from the standpoint of formation and installation, since threads need not be formed in either the skirt or the lining or gasket material. However, a press-on, turn-off cap normally includes a relatively large amount of expensive gasket material, since the principal seal is between the gasket portion, located in the outer margin of the top panel, and the top seal finish of the container, with the portion of the gasket or sealing material disposed in the skirt either furnishing an insignificant seal or a secondary or less effective seal.

Since desirable advantages of economy and simplicity can be combined in a closure having a press-on, tum-off mode of operation and only the amount of gasket or sealforming material necessary to create a top seal, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a container closure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a closure which may be installed without intentional rotation but which requires rotation for removal thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a closure having skirt portion depending from an outer margin of the top panel of the closure shell in which the skirt includes a plurality of inwardly and upwardly extending, resilient fastening elements adapted to engage thread means on the side finish of a container.

Another object of the invention is to provide a closure which includes fastening elements disposed about the lower edge of the skirt portion of a closure and which are resiliently but firmly biased inwardly so as to snap into a locked position of use engaging container threads on a container side finish without undergoing permanent deformation while being snapped over the threads during installation.

Another object is to provide a closure having a sealing gasket disposed only in outer marginal areas of the closure shell, which will provide a satisfactory seal with the container and operates on the press-on, turn-off principle.

Another object is to provide a simple method of making a closure which includes a plurality of fastening elements of the type described above.

The present invention achieves the above stated objects, and other objects inherent therein, by providing a closure having an outer shell portion including a top panel portion, an outer margin portion, a skirt depending downwardly therefrom, a sealing gasket disposed in the margin portion, and fastening means extending inwardly from the lower part of said skirt portion to engage threads or lugs on the side finish of a container, the fastening means being resiliently movable outwardly so as to pass freely over the threads during installation and biased inwardly so as to prevent removal thereof except by a turn-on, twist-off operation. The invention also achieves its objects by providing methods of making such closure and assembling the closure and container.

The exact manner in which the invention accomplishes these objects and advantages will become more apparent when reference is made to the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention set forth below, the appended claims, and the drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, and with portions broken away, showing a closure made according to the present invention in position of use atop a container with which it is associated.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view showing the interior of the closure of the invention.

FIGURE 3 is a partly diagrammatic enlarged vertical sectional view, with portions broken away, showing the manner of installation of the closure of the invention over the top portion of a container.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing a modified form of the invention.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view, taken along lines 55 of FIGURE 2, showing a portion of the interior of the closure of the invention.

FIGURES 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D show certain steps in the formationof the closure fastening means used in the present invention.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODI- MENTS OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, FIG- URE 1 shows a container and closure assembly with a closure 12 disposed over the upper portion of a container 14. The container includes a body portion 16, a side finish portion 18, a top finish portion and a plurality of threads 22 disposed about the side finish 18. In the illustrated embodiment the threads 22 are of a helix pattern and are the so-called quarter-turn type, that is, the pitch of the threads is such that 90 of closure rotation will disengage a closure from the threads 22. The closure 12 includes a generally centrally disposed top panel portion 24 (FIGURE 3), an outer margin portion 26, and a skirt portion 28 joined to the margin 26 at a radius 30. The closure 12 also includes fastening means 32, which comprise inwardly extending fastening elements in the form of fingers 34, each having a folded over portion 36 forming an inner edge 38, which engages the threads 22 on the side finish 18 of the container.

The margin portion 26, which may be defined at least in part by an offsetting panel step or flange 40 receives a gasket 42 therein, which ordinarily comprises a resilient plastisol material, such as a foamed vinyl plastisol of known composition.

In a locked position of use of the closure 12, the gasket 42 is somewhat compressed, and the edge 38 of the fastening element 34 is locked in place under a thread 22, thereby preventing removal of the closure 12 without rotation thereof.

In the installation of the closure 12, a downwardly directed force applied in the direction of the arrows A is sufficient to compress the gasket 42 and to bend or deflect the fastening elements or fingers 34 resiliently upwardly and outwardly about the fastening element radius 44, in which position each finger 34 snaps down beneath or engages a portion of a thread 22 when the edge 38 thereof is below the thread 22 with which it is associated. In this position, the closure may be held with suflicient force to maintain the seal formed at the interface of the gasket 42 and the top finish or top seal finish 20.

After installation of the closure 12 in the manner just described, the closure is locked against axially straight or vertical movement upon the application of reasonable force, and cannot be removed from container without either being rotated or without being damaged.

The thread pitch, which was illustrated as a quarter turn pitch, is selected so as to allow rapid removal of the closure 12 consistent with presenting a sutficient horizontal extent to prevent the cap from tending to ride up the threads spontaneously such as during handling or the like. The selection of the exact pitch desired is therefore made in a manner known to those skilled in this art.

In the illustrated embodiment, the fastening means 32 comprise 32 fingers, of which any suitable number may be used, the exact number not being a critical feature of the invention, and being determined, to a certain extent, by the thread pitch, the diameter of the closure, the thickness of the material comprising a closure shell, and like considerations.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an embodiment of the invention is shown in which the skirt 38 of the closure 12 includes an offset portion 46 which extends radially outwardly from the remainder of the skirt, as a result of which the inner edges 38 of the fingers 34 extend radially inwardly of the main portion of the skirt 28 either not at all, or to a smaller extent than in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The construction shown in FIG. 4 utilizes less sealing material 42, since the margin portion 26 of the closure 12 is of a narrower extent than that illus ra ed in F 1 and 3, for exam le.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another view of a portion of the skirt which includes the fastening means 32 is shown. In this view, it can be seen that as the fingers 34 extend upwardly and inwardly, edges 38 are formed radially inwardly of the folded over portions 36. This view shows that the edges 38 are aligned generally parallel to each other as well as parallel to the disposition of the threads 22. The slits 48 separate and define, along the edges thereof, the fingers 34.

FIG. 2 shows the radial disposition of the slits 48, and the fingers 34, of which a large number, for example 36, are present.

A preferred method of making the closure 12 according to the present invention includes forming a conventional closure shell having a top panel portion 24, a margin portion 26 and a skirt portion 28, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, for example. Thereafter, by conventional forming techniques, a bottom portion of the skirt 28 is pre-curled or hemmed to form an upwardly extending flange 50, as shown in FIGURE 63. Thereafter, as shown in FIG- URE 6C, the flange is further curled or rolled so as to form the curl 52.

Thereupon, either successively or in the same operation, the curl 52 is lanced or cut to form a plurality of fastening elements or fingers 34, and the curl 52 is flattened so as to present a relatively small radius inner edge 38, and to create a flat, folded over portion 36 closely overlying the lower portion of the fingers 34. FIGURE 6D shows that an additional fold 54 creates a second flange 56 which is disposed between the bottom portion of the fingers 34 and the folded over portion 36. In this connection, it will be understood that Whereas the flanges 36, 56 and the lower portions of the fingers 34 are shown as somewhat spaced apart in FIGURE 6D,

in actual practice, the curl 50 might be somewhat smaller than that shown, and the flanges and portions 36, 56

and 34 would be folded into a closely overlying relation.

The radius 54 and the flange 56 are illustrated as being typical in the embodiment shown in FIGURE 6D, whereas FIGURES 1, 3 and 4 show that the fastening means 32 comprises only fingers 34 having a single folded over portion 36. Preferably, the same angle as the helix angle of the threads 22 is imparted to the edges 38 of the fingers 34, and this inclined shape may be imparted when the individual segments are formed.

The upward and inward inclination of the fingers 34 is preferred to add stiffness to the closure and to provide added resistance to removal thereof, but this feature is not absolutely essential to the practice of the invention. The cross sectional configuration of the threads 22 shown is likewise preferred but not necessary.

When the plastisol or like material from which the sealing means or gasket 42 as formed is disposed as shown herein, a considerable economy is achieved in comparison to the use of a cap construction in which the entire inside surface of the skirt 28 is covered with plastisol which forms the closure threads. However, the closure of the present invention provides the press-on, turn-off characteristic or feature which is thought previously to be achieved only in conjunction with a construction having significant amounts of sealing material along the closure skirt. Thus, the present invention provides the simple operational mode of the press-on, turnoff cap, in combination with the economy of a more conventional threaded cap.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a novel container closure and method having numerous advantages and characteristics, including these hereinfore pointed out and others which are inherent in the invention.

I claim:

1. A closure for a container having a top seal finish, and a side finish including thread means thereon, said closure comprising, in combination, an outer shell portion including a top panel portion, an outer margin portion joined to said top panel portion and a skirt Portion attached to and depending downwardly from said margin portion, sealing means disposed at least along said margin portion for engaging the top seal finish of said container, and fastening means for engaging said thread means for holding said closure in position atop said container with said top seal finish thereof engaging said sealing means, said fastening means including a plurality of fastening elements disposed about the lower periphery of said skirt portion, said fastening elements having inwardly directed edges thereon and being biased radially inwardly and resiliently movable radially outwardly, whereby, as said closure is pressed down over said thread means without intentional rotation of said closure, said edges may move radially outwardly over said thread means and inwardy into engagement therewith so as to hold said closure in sealed relation to said container and to prevent removal from said container except by rotation thereof.

2. A closure as defined in claim 1 in which said edges are inclined so as to be generally parallel to said thread means of said container, when said thread means are helically arranged with respect to said container.

3. A closure as defined in claim 1 in which said fastening elements comprise radially inwardy and upwardly extending fingers formed from a portion of said closure skirt, said fingers being at least partially defined by a plurality of radially extending slits, said edges being disposed on the radially innermost portions of said fingers.

4. A closure for a container as defined in claim 1 wherein said fastening elements include inwardly extending fingers formed from a portion of said closure skirt, and in which said edges are of double thickness with respect to the fingers, formed by folding portions of said fingers back upon themselves.

5. A closure as defined in claim 1 in which said fastening means are formed on a portion of said skirt which is radially outwardly offset from the upper portion of said skirt.

6. A closure as defined in claim 1 in which said sealing means comprises a gasket of a plastisol material, disposed at least partially within said outer margin portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,150,789 9/1964 Patton 2l5-44 3,182,843 5/1965 Foye 2l544 3,270,904 9/1966 Foster et al 2l543 GEORGE T. HALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 21540, 41 

